Fire, Earth, and Water
by Poliakoff
Summary: A mysterious new camper arrives at Camp Half Blood, with powers Chiron has never seen before in any half blood. Around the same time, the goddess Demeter disappears. Is there any connection? And if so, who's pulling the strings?


The silver moon looked down upon the landscape, seemingly mesmerized by her shimmering reflection in waves of the warm blackness below. The sea caressed the coastline gently, which farther in had a stubble of grass. The grass eventually grew thick and luxuriously, and into a hill, belted by a two-lane road, with a large tree that sat ponderously atop it.

A kid from the Apollo cabin leaned back against the Tree. Shooting stars streaked across the sky, looking like a celestial arrows shot from the moon herself. As he gazed up at the sky thoughtfully, a slightly melancholy melody began to play through his head, almost as if the stars were notes lying against the inky expanse of the sky. He hummed to himself, letting his eyes close and mind drift…

However, a soft pattering of feet drawing closer interrupted his thoughts, and he turned to look, with slightly pursed lips and squinted eyes, at who was running down the road at such an unholy hour. As a young man rounded the corner, several things flashed through Apollo's child's mind. Firstly, he looked to be about sixteen, with dark hair and bright eyes that seemed to almost glow. He had a broad face, and heavy brows. He seemed well built, almost like a rugby player, and was fast. The second thing the camper noticed was that the kid was being followed by two shadowy shapes. Oddly enough, they looked like manticores. That's when the alarm kicked in. There was a kid running towards the camp, being followed by a manticores. That was not good news for the kid. He was just exceptionally lucky that none of the needles had been fired yet, or he probably would be dead by now. Reaching up into the branches of the Tree, he grabbed a hunting horn and raised it to his lips, a brazen note sounding off.

Without a pause, he then immediately bent to pick up a small stone found at the roots of the tree. One beast hung back, content to watch, as the other was still coming after its prey, and it looked like it would catch up with him. Apollo's child was almost as gifted with throwing small objects as with arrows: the horn hadn't gotten the creature's attention, but a stone at sixty miles an hour to the middle of the forehead had. The monster stopped, shooting a deathly look at the new assailant. The look was returned coolly. The newcomer was just arriving at the base of the hill when a pattering of hooves came up behind the Tree, and a hand pressed a bow and a quiver arrows into Apollo's child's hand. The young archer raised the bow, three arrows notched and ready. Then with a gallop of hooves, the centaur Chiron trampled down the hillside, trying to get to the unknown guest before the manticore.

"Back me up," was all Chiron said, calling back over his shoulder.

It all came down to speed, in the end. The first manticore broke into a stumbling gait, carrying itself straight towards the almost defenseless person faster than anyone had imagined it could. The second one had been creeping to the other side, and Chiron was forced to fight it off. That left the one kid virtually defenseless. Well, the archer would have to see to that. Three arrows flew forth, like venomous serpents striking. His aim unerring, they sped straight towards the monster. However, something he had not forseen happened: It used its tail to swipe the arrows away, midflight.

"Di immortales," the young man cursed quietly, notching more arrows, looking for another chance to attack, a chance he knew wouldn't appear.

As the beast drew up to the refugee, he reached inside his shirt, and, to Apollo's kid's surprise, pulled out two small looking daggers. Side stepping the monster's paw that would've smashed his head into a pulp, he slashed at its side and continued to run. The monster bellowed in pain, and ran after him. That was the manticore's fatal error.

In one smooth motion, an arrow was drawn, notched, and sent towards the monster, piercing it through its maw and sticking out the back of its neck, severing its spinal cord. With a rattling cry, it collapsed into itself, its ashes blowing away on the breeze. Chiron then broke away from the other manticore, his arm bleeding, and swept the young man onto his back, trying to gallop up the hill to cross the boundry line, leaving his back to the manticore, knowing he'd be covered by the archer. However, the monster didn't move to run after the centaur. It cocked its tail.

"Chiron! Move! Now!" the archer yelled, forseeing what would soon happen. All that the monster needed was a single, poisonous needle to pierce Chiron's heart from behind. "Apollon, odegos belos mou," he breathed.

As the manticore's tail flipped forward, a small, poisonous shaft exploded towards Chiron almost faster than Apollo's child could see. And so, he closed his eyes, and still praying, let loose his arrow in what he could only hope was the path of the manticore's attack.

As Chiron crossed the line, none the worse aside from his arm, the archer breathed a small sigh of relief compounded with a thank you to the gods. His arrow had intercepted the needle in mid-flight. Knowing the monster couldn't cross the boundary line, he walked towards Chiron, helping the quite obviously shaken guy off of the centaur's back. He reached up, and, grabbing his forearm, brought him gently to the ground. With a small nod, the guy transferred one of his daggers to his left hand, and held out his right hand to shake the archer's hand. As Apollo's child took his hand, though, his eyes widened. He had forgotten: the manticore could also project weapons. They weren't yet safe. As the needle shot through the air, the new person found himself yanked to the left and out of harms way. Unfortunately, the needle didn't want to stop just because it had missed its intended target, as the archer's lower rib discovered unhappily. Apollo's child, the archer, collapsed.

A low curse from Chiron was accompanied by a small twang as the second beast was slain by Chiron's arrow. The centaur leaned over low, as the other kid shoved his knives back inside his shirt. Abruptly, the centaur drew himself upright again, and turned to the newcomer.

"I'm Chiron. He's Lucian. Now pick him up and follow me. The formal introductions will have to wait."

As he picked up the archer's limp body, he turned to follow Chiron as they almost ran down the other side of the hill towards a big house. Things were going way too fast for the new guy, especially with his ADHD. He needed to know what was going on. He couldn't bite back at least one question.

"Excuse me, but where am I?" he inquired. He knew the little goat man had told him to follow the road onward, before it was- well, eaten, to put it nicely. He tried to shove the images back.

Chiron answered, "You are now at Camp Half-Blood. I hope you enjoy the rest of your stay."

(Hey guys. This would happen to be my first Percy Jackson fanfic, and second fanfic ever. So, guess what I need! :D R.R.! Also, I haven't come up with a name for the main character yet… however, I'm willing to take suggestions if they're couple with comments on the story itself. ;) Also, just to clear up any possible confusions: There are three people in the scence: Chiron, the centaur: the new guy (refugee, you know, dude with the two daggers being attacked by the manticores), and Apollo's child, the archer.)


End file.
